Dickson County schools get preparation tips for Common Core

Rising poverty rates to converge with harder curriculum in Dickson County, state

Nov. 18, 2013

Written by

Colleen Creamer

Gannett Tennessee

A combination of more poor families in Dickson County and the adoption of rigorous new Common Core State Standards for education could lead to precipitous drops in reading and math proficiency, one education official warns.

That’s only if measures aren’t put in place now to stem the declines, according to data from Scholastic Inc.

Dr. Paul Ezen from Scholastic Inc. addressed school and community leaders earlier this month, saying the school district should be prepared to implement a “robust district academic improvement and communication plan” in preparation for Common Core. The study also calls for screening and monitoring data systems, comprehensive professional job support for all teachers, tiered reading and math interventions, and a resource plan.

“This is about academic improvement through the transition to Common Core,” Ezen said. “That means not just changing test scores but looking at what you’re going to do with programs and how you are going to get the biggest bang for your buck and also looking at what you’re doing in the training and support of teachers.”

Josh Mason, director of secondary education for the Dickson County School District, invited Ezen to come and talk about the impact of the new standards after he saw a company presentation in another county. Scholastic Inc. is a large publisher of academic books and also provides data analysis and technologies to close achievement gaps.

'Fragile families'

Ezen presented evidence that the projected declines could be 10 percent to 20 percent in reading and 9 percent to 11 percent in math. Ezen also presented evidence that economically challenged families are on the rise throughout the state.

The study focused on what the company terms “fragile families,” families in poverty, single-parent households and families receiving public assistance. The company based outcomes on data from the U.S. Census Bureau statistics, the Brookings Institution, Moody’s Analytics, the Pew Charitable Trust and the Annie E. Case Foundation.

According to the data, 64 percent of children in Dickson County who scored below proficient in reading and math in 2013 were from economically challenged families.

“I don’t want you to think that you are unusual,” Ezen said. “This is pretty much what we see across the country.”

School administrators will have an informational community meeting with a speaker from SCORE (State Collaborative on Reforming Education) at 6 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Dickson Middle School auditorium.